no way your ears could stand them turned up. This was larger and overall a great buy. Its big enough to fit magazines and letters, plus the additional space on the side is nice for small decor items. I thought this was just an issue with getting a "renewed" product but the same thing happened with my friend who had a brand new unit as well. It was time to see what improvements HK has made to its newer models. She left months ago. The A-50s simply do not get loud enough. My only complaint is its too hard to take the head off to clean it. +- Mistakenly disconnected the left bud from the right once which was annoying but was able to reconnect pretty quickly after checking out the product setup videos on their website so wasnt an issue and now know how to fix it if it happens again. It?s better for who have narrow feet.